Ted Stevens indicted

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, has been federally indicted on seven felony counts. (By the way, apropos of nothing, but I love the dopey photo that the press insists on using of him, with the goofy smile - MSNBC uses it in the video above.)

Quite frankly, considering the way the Bush administration has politicized the appointments of federal prosecutors, this indictment is certainly saying something. Yes, every person is innocent until proven guilty, but there must be some pretty long evidence; he's been under investigation for quite some time, and his home in Girdwood, Alaska, was raided last summer, just over a year ago.

New York Times:

Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest-serving Republican senator in United States history and a figure of great influence in Washington as well as in his home state, has been indicted on federal charges of failing to report gifts and income.

Mr. Stevens, 84, was indicted on seven felony counts related to renovations on his home in Alaska. The charges arise from an investigation that has been under way for more than a year, in connection with the senator's relationship with a businessman who oversaw the home-remodeling project.

"I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that," Mr. Stevens said several hours after the indictment was announced. He said in a statement that he had temporarily relinquished his Senate leadership positions "until I am absolved of these charges."

[...]

Prosecutors say Mr. Stevens, who referred to his home as "the chalet," accepted goods and services worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, ranging from an outdoor grill to extensive home remodeling and architectural advice. Not only did Mr. Stevens fail to report the items on his Senate financial disclosure form, as required, but he took active steps to conceal the receipt of the goods and services, the indictment says.

Mr. Stevens said he was saddened by the charges and had "proudly served this nation and Alaska for over 50 years." He said he had "never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. senator."

Stevens is charged with failing to report over $250,000 in gifts, and for backing legislation that favored his son, Alaska State Sen. Ben Stevens (whose senate office has also been searched twice in connection with the federal probe, although he hasn't been charged).

I'm not shedding any tears for Stevens, that's for sure. I certainly hope that justice prevails, wherever it may lead, but today's indictment will certainly hurt Stevens' chances at reelection, and he's already in a tough fight with his opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

What's more, Stevens has been one of Congress' biggest opponents of Net Neutrality, so I'll make no secret that I'd love to see him out of Congress, no matter how it happens.

A worthy Net Neutrality group

I received a message today from a group called The Point in a comment about my previous post on Net Neutrality, and I was intrigued. I checked out the group's Website, and it looks legit, and worthy of our time. Click on the badge at left to go to the group's Website, where you can sign up for the e-mail newsletter about Net Neutrality, among other things.

I love the spirit of this - the group's slogan, First Telecom to take the Net Neutrality pledge wins our business, is right up my alley. As wrote regarding Michael Savage's autism comments, considering how our media is dominated by corporate conglomerates, about the only power we have left is where we decide to spend our money.

I urge you to click on the badge above,  sign up for the e-mail updates, and to write your elected legislators, demanding that they stay on top of insuring the continuation of Net Neutrality.

This is a vital issue to every American, no matter which side of the political aisle your beliefs reside. Right now, we have it, but we certainly won't keep it without a fight.

"We'll do it live," McCain-style; & a word on 'Net Neutrality

I have so many serious things to get to, so I figured I would start this morning off with a laugh. It's the now infamous We'll do it live! video, starring John McCain. Considering his notorious temper, maybe this one fits more than we realize.

It's things like this that make me realize I was born in precisely the right time in history, because I enjoy all that the Internet offers so much. I love the parodies and humor, but most of all, I love the fact that politicians can no longer hide behind the fact that what they said six months ago is so difficult to look up for the average American. Arrrnt! Not with the Internet. I've written it many times, and it bears repeating - with our corporate media serving as our "free press," the 'Net is really the only thing we have left.

Thankfully, it appears that all Democrats in the U.S. Senate are very serious about preserving 'Net Neutrality. Most excellent. Please write your Democratic Senator (if you're blessed enough to have one) and tell them that you applaud their efforts. They certainly deserve our continued praise for remaining vigilant on this issue, because one thing's for sure - the media conglomerates aren't simply going to throw their collective hands in the air and give up. They will keep fighting and fighting, until they get the "tiered Internet" that they covet. We cannot and must not let that ever happen.

From Open Left:

For the last few months, we’ve been posting Democratic Senate challenger positions on net neutrality here at OpenLeft. Since we started posting, we’ve been getting in statements and positions, from blogs like Cotton Mouth and the Political Base, from the candidates themselves, and from readers who took the time to ask and send in statements. I’m happy to report that every single Democratic challenger with more than $500k in cash on hand has announced their support for net neutrality. This is a milestone for the fight for internet freedom. I included statements reacting to this news from Senator Byron Dorgan, Speaker Pelosi, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Google public policy director Alan Davidson, and Columbia Law Professor Tim Wu.

Again, please write your senators, no matter what party they belong to, and let them know that nothing short of insuring the continuation of 'Net Neutrality is acceptable, without exceptions or provisions.

h/t Crooks & Liars

Net Neutrality: We should all be worried

The Internet is the last frontier Americans have to get real, unfiltered news. So, of course, the mega-media companies want to take this away, and to make money off of it even more than they already are though selling us access as Internet Service Providers.

Everyone should be worried about Net Neutrality, and the consequences for its potential and likely demise. I urge all of you to write your members of Congress and also the Federal Communications Commission and demand that Net Neutrality be put into law. If you are unaware of who your members of Congress are, you're in the right place. On the left-hand column, about 1/3 of the way down, is a tool that will help you quickly locate contact information for your Congressional Representative and Senators.

Your members of Congress must hear from you to so that Congress is forced to put this ultra-important practice into law. Please spread the word to others as well. Later on this evening, I will be writing all of my Congressional members about this vitally important issue, so feel free to take my verbiage and use it as your own when writing Congress.

If you're unfamiliar with what Net Neutrality is, this is a pretty good video that breaks it down into an easily understandable explanation.

For more information about Net Neutrality, visit Save the Internet, a very informative Website.

Net Neutrality: this is hyper-important!

There is no issue in the media today that affects our free press more than Net Neutrality. Please, PLEASE take a few minutes, watch the video above, and go to the Save the Internet Website and sign the petition.

Most importantly of all, please take a 1/2 hour to write your Congressional representatives to tell them to not even think about putting their hands on the Internet.

The site mentioned above does a much better job explaining the complexities and misinformation that's out there than I do, but the bottom line is that ISP media giants like Comcast, AT&T, etc. are all raising a stink because they are providing Internet content for "free" (in so many words).

DON'T fall for the misinformation - this is just corporate America trying to squeeze more dimes out of the middle class and working poor. What these companies want to do is to charge companies (and possibly even people with personal Websites) to have their sites load faster. What an utter crock of shit.

It doesn't take Alan Greenspan to figure out who that cost will get passed on to, as well. Psst - it's me, you, and the other 300 million Americans who are going to once again pay to line the pockets of these mega media companies...

UNLESS WE PUT A STOP TO IT.

Please, write Congress today, and sign the petition to preserve the Internet as we know it.

Important! More on Net Neutrality

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is at it again. For those of you who don't know who he is (and I didn't until Net Neutrality and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge became issues), he's the ultra-powerful chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee — which is in charge of the bills that, among other things, control the Internet. The problem is, he doesn't have the least bit of knowledge of how the damn thing works, if you take him at face value on this speech about the Internet, skewered on The Daily Show (above).

Anyway, here's some important info. that I just got from a site I check out once in a while, FireDogLake, about what Stevens is trying to do regarding Net Neutrality:

Sen. Ted Stevens is trying to pull a fast one, and get a cloture vote on Net Neutrality before Congress is scheduled to recess this week. He’s been buttonholing three Senators in particular to gain their cloture vote:

– Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
– Ben Nelson of Nebraska
– Joe Lieberman of Connecticut

Please call and/or fax these Senators and let them know how important it is that they vote against cloture — because voting with Stevens means voting with the corporate shills who want to charge you extra to exercise your right to free speech on the Internet. You can call toll free through the Capitol switchboard at 888-355-3588. (You can also find contact information for offices here.)

Stevens is shooting for a cloture vote on Thursday and has plans to keep everyone in a lame duck session to force a vote on Net Neutrality after Congress is supposed to be in recess. If you can’t win fair and square, you try the smarmy tactics…please hit the phones.

**
Couldn't have said it better myself. Please take a second to give these Senators a call on your lunch or whenever you have time. Yes, it is that important!

More on Internet Neutrality

This is not a hoax, or some urban legend floating around the Internet.

This is for real. Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and most importantly, act on what I hope will be your outrage.

I blogged about this about a month ago, and what I was afraid would happen, happened. What a surprise - the U.S. House of Representatives voted to give the giant telecommunications companies exactly what they want - control over the Internet. OUR Internet! This is total and complete bullshit, and we cannot let it happen. I'm not going to get into all of the specifics here, but if you have ever cared about anything or written your state legislators about any single one issue, this is one to choose. Click the link at the top of this post to get lots more information on this, and to sign the petition.

Millions of people raised their voices to defend a free and open Internet, but Internet operators like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast spent millions lobbying the House of Representatives to kill Net Neutrality. A majority of the House members caved - voting for a telecommunications law that would give these companies more control over what you see and do online.

All eyes are now on the Senate, which considers this issue next. We face a more friendly environment there, but we've got to act fast—the telecom lobbyists are working on every vote. To date, over 1 million people have voiced opposition to their Senators about this bill, but many, many more voices are needed. Drop your Senator a line to let 'em know you're pissed, and that you will act with your vote. Again, if you click on the graphic at the top of this post, you can get more information and also sign the petition, which takes under five minutes.

Thanks for your time, and please take this seriously, because this issue affects every one of us. Telecom companies have taken over and now rule just about any medium to control what's reported, and what we see and hear. The Internet is all we have left. Let's not allow these bastards (and the easily bought politicans on both sides of the aisle) to take it away from us.

Preserve the 'Net's "1st Amendment"

(A special nod to MoveOn.org is in order here - I've patterned this blog entry largely on the general e-mail that MoveOn sent to all its members about this very important issue.)

The government is thinking of screwing with a free and open Internet, and it's time to do something about it. Big Internet operators like AT&T and Verizon want the power to decide which Websites open properly on our computers - giving them control over what we do and where we search online. So far, Congress has caved to their demands.

But because of intense public pressure, some members of Congress are starting to switch from AT&T's side to the side of outraged Americans, who want to see this stopped and Internet freedom preserved. In the past few weeks, Congressional leaders have seen over 250,000 people sign a petition demanding the Internet stay free. Joining this call are tech pioneers like Google and Microsoft, diverse groups ranging from MoveOn.org to Gun Owners of America, and even some celebrities.

If enough of us stand up now, there's still time for the House of Representatives to do the right thing when it votes on whether to protect or destroy Network Neutrality—the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom.

Please, PLEASE take a few minutes to sign a petition, sponsored by MoveOn.org. You can go right to the petition by clicking on the link below, and it takes all of a few minutes:

http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7450-3082352-RTB6z1Kn9hFUy6pF8k2efQ&t=2

Thanks for reading - this is so important to every one of us. Your signature and activism can and will make a difference.